5 in custody over Westchester Nordstrom Rack robbery-sexual assault

UPDATED: Three men suspected of committing last week's robbery at Nordstrom Rack in Westchester and holding 14 employees hostage were in custody Monday, along with two women who assisted them, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck announced.

Few details were released about the arrests during a morning news conference, but Beck credited 20 detectives with working throughout the weekend to find the alleged culprits.

"I'm incredibly proud of them," Beck said.

The men are suspected in Thursday night's holdup at Nordstrom Rack at The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center, adjacent to the San Diego (405) Freeway at Sepulveda Boulevard and Center Drive.

Records show at least one of the suspected gunmen was sentenced in 2000 to spend 12 years in prison for a robbery conviction. How many years he actually served behind bars before he was paroled was not immediately available.

In Thursday's crime, gunmen forced 12 of the 14 employees into a storeroom, while two others hid in a store break room. Police said one of the women employees was sexually assaulted and another was stabbed.

Beck declined to say what the robbers took during the heist, but he described their loot as "not significant."

Arrested on suspicion of robbery were Los Angeles residents Troy Marsay Hammock, 29, who was jailed without bail on a parole hold; Raymond Sherman Jr., 34, who was arrested in Phoenix; and Everett Oneal Allen, 24, who was held on $1.08 million bail.

Jail records showed Hammock was arrested on Friday. Phoenix police arrested Allen at 5:40 p.m. Saturday and booked him at the Maricopa County jail, records showed.

Hammock, the parolee, was listed as unemployed on the Los Angeles police arrest log. Allen's occupation was listed as "LAUSD." Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman Tom Waldman said Allen is listed as a food service worker at John Liechty Middle School in Los Angeles.

Sherman has been a licensed security guard for nine years, according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. He also has a permit to carry a firearm.

Police also arrested two women on suspicion of helping the men after the crime. Details of their alleged assistance were not disclosed.

The women were identified as Rochelle Monique Sherman, 33, and Paula Roneisha Bradley, 29, both of Los Angeles. They were each held on $100,000 bail.

Arrest records showed Sherman works as a security guard and Bradley works in a lab.

Detectives presented their case to the District Attorney's Office on Monday for the filing of charges. Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the office, said the reports were under review and a decision on charges might occur today.

Beck released no details of how police identified the suspects, but said they escaped in a white sport utility vehicle. A white Ford Explorer was spotted racing away from the center as police arrived.

Officers swarmed the center at 11 p.m. Thursday when a man dialed 911 to report that his girlfriend had called him to say two gunmen had barged into the store. The store was closed but 14 employees were inside.

After several hours, a police SWAT team entered the Nordstrom store, finding the 12 employees inside a storage room, and two others in other parts of the store. Officers learned that during the robbery, a female employee was stabbed in the neck when she was discovered hiding in a break room. One of the suspects sexually assaulted another woman. Each victim was treated at hospitals and released.

Beck credited the victims with remaining calm and brave during their ordeal, and helping investigators to solve the crime.

County court and District Attorney's Office records showed Hammock pleaded no contest to one count of robbery stemming from charges at the Compton courthouse in September 2000. He received a 12-year sentence.

Records show Allen was charged Dec. 27 at the Compton courthouse with possession of cocaine for sale. He also had a pending 2011 charge of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana in a vehicle on his record.

The records showed Bradley was charged in 2006 with loitering near a school and loitering with the intent to commit prostitution. She was convicted of loitering.